A Complete Guide Of The Different Types Of Fossils For Kids!

A fossil is used for identifying different geological stages and people study fossils to learn about life on earth.

The fossil process can be divided into three segments and the types of fossils are impression, trace, and replacement fossils. Fossils form over time and they can help to identify prehistoric mythology.

Scientists have discovered that fossils form over a long period of time and there are many processes to fossilization. The main types are permineralization which happens in a submerged stage and hollow spaces become full with minerals. The object has to be incorporated into sediments.

Authigenic mineralization is mold formation when an organism acts like a nucleus to precipitate siderite while creating a nodule. Recrystallization is when a shell recrystallizes despite losing its original compounds or is in a different form as aragonite to calcite.

Carbonization consists of coal and the silhouette of the original organic remains. We can find silica, quartz, tridymite, and cristobalite in the earth's crust. The crust is divided into oceanic and continental.

We can find fossils from one micrometer living organism, microscopic foraminifera, ammonites, trilobites to several tons, solid rock, hard rock, dinosaur bones. Some fossils can even be helpful for correlation such as trilobites and aquatic species that belong to the Cambrian period. An example is Paradoxides pinus. Pectea and Neptunea are index fossils that belong to the Cenozoic period.

Carbon fossils are very subtle and consist of soft tissues from organisms. An organism can be submerged and covered in sediments underwater.

The compression process can turn them into shale. True form fossils can only happen naturally on earth. If insects get stuck in resin and over time it hardens, polymerization can take place and amber has a slow decomposition speed.

During the Ice Age, some animals died and the moisture from their bodies was removed over time. They are so subtle in real life that their color patterns can be visible.

If you enjoyed this article, why not discover even more interesting fossil facts and index fossil fun facts here on Kidadl?

Dinosaur Fossil Facts

In China, some dinosaur fossilized eggs have been found that were 2 ft (60 cm) long and 8 in (20 cm) wide!

Scientists have been able to find prehistoric fossilized animals which can tell us about these creatures that once roamed the earth. Dinosaur mold fossils that have been found include a skin imprint, footprints, and coprolites. Usually, fossilization requires some stipulations, meaning dinosaur bones had to have been submerged at some point, so that decomposition was slowed down.

Most fossils found are aquatic animals or plants. Dinosaurs left footprints in sedimentary rocks, which scientists have studied to understand and learn more about dinosaurs. Scientists have shown that dinosaurs died in those areas due to floods.

A dinosaur fossil was found in 1815 and described in 1824. This fossil found was a Megalosaurus. Another dinosaur fossil, Sinosauropteryx, consists of melanosomes which can help us to identify color patterns.

Fossils For Preschoolers

Do you know parrots used to be eagle-like big, weighing around 15 lb (6.8 kg). This parrot is now known as a Squakzilla.

Stromatolites are the oldest fossils on earth and are similar looking to rocks but made with several bacteria layers. They are at least over 3 billion years old and can be found in western Australia and Greenland.

In the UK, there are some common fossils including trilobites, mostly scorpions and crustaceans. Ammonites that look squid-like are incorporated in their coiled shells. Other fossils are belemnites which also look squid-like and they have bullet-shaped skeletons.

In earth science, invertebrate (animals without backbones) fossils consist of snails, bivalves, cephalopods, trilobites, crinoids, sea urchin, brachiopods, and corals. With the help of the National Science Foundation and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of National History, a database was created with various specimens accumulated from Oklahoma, Alaska, Canada, and western Europe.

Body Fossils For Kids

A body fossil is formed from dead organisms. They can be teeth, bones, exoskeleton, trunks, shells, or stems. This sort of fossil can be microscopic or gigantic, Amber can be a subordinate part as well.

Cast and mold fossils include hard parts, teeth, bones, exoskeletons, and shells as footprints. In this process, organisms usually are in permeable structures, where water flows through the hollow mold and body parts get carried away.

An interior mold happens when sediments are accumulated inside of the shell and exterior mold happens when sediments get filled surrounding the hard parts.

Casting can occur naturally or artificially. Natural casting can be formed through the accumulation of minerals in a hollow shell. Artificial casting can be made out of plaster of Paris or latex.

Molecular Fossils For Kids

Scientists have also found some examples of exceptional preservation. In rare cases, muscles, feathers, skin, and organisms like a jellyfish or a worm have been fossilized because of the soft tissue.

During the fossilization process of petrified fossils, porous materials, bones, nuts, and petrified wood get replaced with minerals. This can happen during volcanic eruptions. Petrified fossilization can happen instantaneously and it is a very common fossil form to find.

Molecular fossils are organic fragments from rock, sediment, fossil, oil, or any precursor. These can be named biomarkers. Some of them can come from restricted environments that provide us useful information about the paleo-environment. Molecular fossils are associated with precursors.

Sterols, carotenoids, and phytanyl glycerol ethers can be identified through oils and rocks from the earliest eon on earth. A sub-fossil are remains formed from incomplete fossilization of plants and animals. During molecular fossil, cellular biosynthesis happens and turns sedimentary rock into petrified wood.

Trace Fossil For Kids

Fossils with marks of an organism are trace fossils. Fossils, anyhow related to biochemistry, are chemo-fossils. The way index fossils look depends on the various sediments.

Fossilized plants and animals are microfossils. Mold fossils, submerged in sedimentary elements and soluble minerals with a slow decomposition rate, can make an imprint of remaining, hollow spaces that can take shape. These are called cast fossils.

A carbon fossil incorporates dead organisms and remaining carbon. This form of fossil is important to observe an organism’s subtle parts that are millions of years old.

A pseudo-fossil, a watery substance, can take shape of any particular object. A living fossil, can identify how living organisms have changed over time and some of their similarities between them in today’s age, such as coelacanth fish and the ginkgo tree.

Amazing Types Of Fossils For Kids

Fossils, like Coccoliths, were microorganisms that could turn carbon dioxide into calcium underwater. These animals lived during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic periods.

Scientists have discovered many fossils over the years and people study fossils to learn about life on earth. Some common examples are the Edmontosaurus (Alaska, USA), Triceratops (Canada), Tyrannosaurus (Montana, USA), Argentinisaurus (Argentina), Amargasaurus (Brazil), Spinosaurus (Egypt), Archaeopteryx (Germany), Giraffatitan (Tanzania), Baryonyx (UK), Heterodontosaurus (South Africa), Citipati (Mongolia), Velociraptor (Russia), Isanosaurus (Thailand), Confuciusornis (China), Muttaburrasaurus (Australia), and Cryolophosaurus (Antarctica).

A lot of these dinosaurs lived millions of years.

Fossils can help describe a species biological structures and fossils can tell you about the earth's crust as well. Many people enjoy studying fossils because they tell us about the world around us. The study of fossils is called paleontology.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked learning the different types of fossils for kids then why not take a look at what species of dinosaur is Barney or facts about the dinosaur with spikes on its back.